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One of the major public health measures to manage and contain the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was to engage in systematic contact tracing, which required gastronomy, community and sporting venues to keep patron registers. Stand-alone and web-based applications, developed by a range of private IT providers, soon replaced pen-and-paper lists. With the introduction of a uniform, state-wide, mandatory data collection system, these private applications became obsolete. Although only active for four months, these applications paved the way for the public acceptance of state-administered collection systems that allowed for an unprecedented, centralized tracking system of the movements of the entire population. This paper discusses the cultural significance of these applications as a game changer in the debate on civil liberties, and addresses the question of how the materiality, or lack thereof, of this digital heritage affects the management of ephemeral smartphone applications, and its preservation for future generations.

This paper proposes a summary of the results of an ongoing research on the Adriatic city of Pescara, specifically referring to its university district. The study seeks to investigate urban spaces, taking advantage of the representation made possible through mobile-photography, a mode of observation that is increasingly present in current orientations of the culture of the urban project. A way that reflects the will to adhere to the recent guidelines of the MiBACT that has recently decreed the States General for Photography, in order to “protect, enhance and promote” Italian photography as historical heritage and a contemporary language.